Good guys rare breed
By BRET "THE HIT MAN" HART -- For the Calgary Sun
One thing that amazes me is how stupid some people can be.
When I got to WCW, I tried to tell Sting that today's wrestling fans
have no conscience. I don't put a lot of stock in the fans' loyalty to
wrestling or wrestlers any more, especially in the U.S. Sting wouldn't listen.
His reluctance to believe reminded me a lot of myself when I was still blindly
idealistic.
I learned the truth the hard way and so did Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
Even Roddy Piper knows it and was right when he said you're a hero one day and
a zero the next. I thought I could help Sting to avoid the same pitfalls and
learn from our trials, but when he wouldn't listen, I had to turn my warning
into an example. I led him down a dark path so that he'd finally see that you
can't trust anybody anymore. My experience is that for there to be acceptance
of disillusionment and betrayal, it has to hurt to become real.
One thing I've learned over the past year is that you can't trust
that many people anymore. I've suffered on account of it -- in the ring and
out.
I've had a hard lesson in the truth to the saying that nice guys
finish last.
I've learned who my friends are -- and who they aren't. I'm watching
my back as best as I can and I don't really care what anybody thinks about it.
I've decided to run with the wild dogs, and I don't mean the Wolfpac.
In WCW, Hollywood Hulk Hogan is the force to either be reckoned with
or aligned with and it's better to have him with me than against me.
Fortunately, the great majority of my fans understand that this is
the age of the wrestling anti-hero and they're as disappointed in that as I am.
We all long for the day that fans return to cheering for the guys who make an
honest effort in the ring. The Hitman has become a reluctant outlaw in a
lawless land. To expect me to be the only guy who follows the rules would be a
death sentence. I used to think there was something noble in it but I've
learned it's just plain stupid.
The best thing to come from stabbing Sting in the back is that the
dream match that everyone has wanted forever, Hitman vs. Sting, is finally
signed.
The Halloween Havoc pay-per-view is live from Las Vegas on Oct. 25.
The commentators said I lied when I claimed to respect Sting. They're wrong. I
respect Sting immensely, but I'm confident I can beat him in a technical
wrestling match any time. It's just that I wasn't aware that we've stooped to
the level of jumping our opponents before they can even get their boots tied.
Sting just had to drop a notch lower than me ... and then I got lower than him
... I shake my head and wonder what level it will be at by Halloween Havoc.
You'd have to wake up pretty early in the morning to be badder than
me. I learned from the best of the bad. Dr. D. David Shultz called me the other
day to give me all kinds of ways to be a great cheater, like how to put chains
in my boots. I told him thanks, but I've already learned from the baddest guys
around who pulled every dirty trick in the book on me years ago.
Guys like J.R. Foley and especially Dynamite Kid. I learned my
lessons the hard way and now I'm just passing them on to Sting and anybody else
who gets in my way. Sting has got to lead, follow, or get out of the way and
it's time for him to get out of the way since he obviously can't lead or
follow.
I know when I stopped by Schank's to visit my good buddy, Stubby, one
person after another patted me on the back and told me it's about time that I'm
kicking butt in WCW. When I walked into the locker room of the undefeated
Calgary Hitmen last week, they all high-fived me and told me they loved what I
did to Sting. It amazes me but all I can do is shrug my shoulders and figure
that as long as the people who are important to me are happy, that's all that
matters. Am I happy? I thought I'd miss being a hero, but the people who count
made it clear to me that I still am one.
